


Lost in the Maze; An ATEEZ horror au

by vixx_trix



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Bullying, Hallucinations/Mention of schizophrenia, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, ghost falls in love with human, ghost hunting?, im sorry seonghwa-, technically character death?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:26:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27769750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vixx_trix/pseuds/vixx_trix
Summary: 2 boys from Seonghwa's school go missing as they find out they were brutally murdered by bullies. With no explanation, Seonghwa and Yunho encounter them as the spirits of Pirate and his little helper. Pirates other name was also 'The caller' because of how he called out to his victims. Seonghwa is stumped on why Pirate wants to be a vengeful spirit, and why he wont pass on. With the help of Yunho's friend Mingi, plus Yeosang and one of the dead boy's brother, San. But in the midst of figuring out what is going on, Seonghwa entountered Pirate about to kill another one of his victims who he mistakened for one of the bullies who killed him. He uncovers the truth about Pirate and finally gets some sort of closing to try and help Pirate and his helper go. But there is a twist...
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Kudos: 3





	1. seonghwa and yunho's beginning on ghost hunts

**Author's Note:**

> Admin note !-
> 
> Welcome again! This may or may not be my 2nd try at a slow-burn type of au, so don’t be too harsh if you're gonna criticize me. Don’t expect this au to be finished anytime soon, it will take a while since...well it's a slow burn. Also, I might make edits here and there so sorry if some things are different than before!
> 
> You can also make comments on this, so feel free to give feedback!

_October 24th, 9:03AM_

Word had gotten around that a new kind of demon was haunting the streets, but Seonghwa could give less of a shit. It was normal for people to ‘make up’ stories about creepypastas and horror stories, so this was nothing out of the ordinary. The word was that they all had dreams of being in a strange and empty rooms. They had tried to walk around and get out of the rooms but it seemed endless and reporting that strange clicking noises could be heard. The room was cold, and the lights flickered every few minutes. Some people say they had seen a strange shadowy humanoid figure, roaming the hallways. Some suspect that humanoid being was the creepypasta they had called “The Caller”, they called him that because he always mimics voices to lure them in. The people aren’t too sure why or what he does to the people that the demon lures, but what Seonghwa does know is that those people were never seen again.

Seonghwa was never a believer in ghosts or the paranormal, he did suspect that maybe they aren’t the only things roaming this stupid earth. His friend, Yunho, was the biggest believer in the paranormal. He would always run to him with fear in his eyes and tell him that he might have seen something move on its own, or maybe there was a shadow figure in the room. Seonghwa found it so unbelievable, but he had to pretend that he cared so Yunho wouldn’t feel as lonely. He also says he feels some connection with ghosts or ‘angels, ever since his mother had mysteriously died. It was a strange and unsolved story, she was found in the river just a few minutes away from his house. No one knew what happened, and the autopsy showed that she had been most likely drugged and beaten. No fingerprints were found, and nothing came up.

But for some reason, this new ‘horror story’ really interested him. They had also said that The Caller also could show up as a friendly young man, somewhere in his early 20’s. He wasn’t tall, but he wasn’t short, many people said he has different outfits but his usual one was a long brown trench coat, combat boots, and a black uniform underneath. He also wore a black hat and mask sometimes, they had noticed he had strange eyes, red and blue. They say that he sometimes had another boy beside him, whose name is unknown, but he also wore similar clothing. He always wore the same black hat and mask, full black uniform, black combat boots and he also carried a bat. He was significantly taller than The Caller, but that’s all he got from the people who witnessed them. 

Yunho had also been acting strange, the story spooked him a lot. But he also predicted that he recognized who those two ‘demons’ were. Strangely, he named the shorter one ‘Pirate’ and he called the taller one ‘Jongho’. He said that he must have seen those boys at his school before, they were both friends, always together. Seonghwa laughed it off as a joke, he must have been making this up, but Yunho didn’t smile or move. He stared at him with this off-putting glare, shutting Seonghwa up quickly.

“I know who these boys are, and I think I know that this story is very real.”

________________________________

_November 13th._

7:44pm

“Oh come on! You know me! I’m always into this supernatural stuff,”

Yunho ran behind Seonghwa, almost out of breath. Seonghwa was done with all his shenanigans, he has heard those words almost every month for the past 7 years that he has been friends with him. Of course, he cared about him, but he never cared for his ‘sightings’.

“Yunho, you are too obsessed with this kind of stuff. You need to chill,” He walked a bit slower so that the younger one could catch up to him.

They inched closer and closer to Seonghwa’s house, where they had always met up for their playdates and hangouts. It was a chilly day, the leaves blowing in the wind and the sky was bright, but not warm. They both entered the house and Yunho sighed deeply, most likely exhausted from their walk. Seonghwa just wanted to relax and get his mind off the strange stories that were spread around the neighborhood. Was it true? Were these ‘Pirate’ and ‘Jongho’ demons a real thing? And why was Seonghwa so interested in this when he could care less about this?

“Well. Yunho,” Seonghwa began. Yunho turned his head around, stopping in his tracks. 

“I’ve been feeling a bit strange about this whole ‘The Caller’ thing. Maybe we should check it out?”

“Woah, Hwa did you get hit with a hammer? Why are you so interested in this horror story or horror dream?” Yunho walked into the living room, jumping onto the couch. He didn’t know how to answer, something inside just told him that he HAD to know about this. Maybe this can help him understand what Yunho believed in.

“No, dumbass. I was just curious since you said that you supposedly knew those two,” 

Seonghwa slowly walked over to the other couch in the living room and sat down, Yunho sat up quickly. He was rather excited for some reason, _he always does this._ As he began, he first started to ramble about his theories, about what happened to those two boys and how they died and became demons. As time went by, he became more serious as he started talking about the origin of this supposed ‘Real horror story’.

First, it started as a dream, you are in a room that seems endless, no matter how far you walk. It was eerie because the room’s walls are all white and the lights flicker every few minutes. Seonghwa already knew that part, from the many people that have shared this story. The people say they hear clicking noises, like a keyboard or maybe nails on a wall. And in the dream, some people have seen a shadowy figure roaming around the halls, and people specified it as ‘hostile’ and to slowly walk away from it and do NOT look at it. The people called the figure, ‘The Caller’ because of his special mimicking skills, people say to not follow those voices. Those who have were mysteriously gone without a trace and are never seen again, but in the real world, they were considered dead. Seonghwa felt like he was going to fall asleep, hearing this so many times from other people made it seem like he might not get anywhere with this.

Something caught him though. Yunho continued, stating that ‘The Caller’ started appearing in the real world too. It finally clicked, he remembered hearing people say that The Caller and Jongho also appeared in the real world. Some say him as a shadow, sometimes he appeared in the trench coat, black uniform, and combat boots. The shadow only haunted the person, and after a few days, they were never seen again. The other appearance, that one comes up to them and tries to have a conversation. Soon they would become friends with that version of ‘The Caller’ but only after a few months, they would disappear. But there was one person who was found in a forest only an hour away from where they were. The person's eyes were ripped out, their throat was slit, 14 lines running around the neck, and their mouth was sewn shut. Police still don’t know who did this, there were no footprints or fingerprints and no weapons used. 

Yunho paused abruptly, waiting for Seonghwa to get all of that in his mind. He had chills, this was something else. He felt stupid for almost believing in something like this, It all had to be just a story… just a story?

“You okay? Do you want me to stop for today-”

“N-No no, keep going. I’m listening to”

Seonghwa looked out the window, trying to keep himself calm. Yunho explained that that was all that he knew about the story of ‘The Caller’. Now he went back to his theories, about how he felt like he knew those boys. He also said that he doesn’t know who the other ‘Jongho’ demon is, so he suggested that it was the shadow humanoid in the dream or the real world. He began by saying that only a few years ago, he always noticed two boys hanging out with each other. They seemed so close, rarely leaving each other along. It was suspicious of Yunho, but he never told anyone. Yunho did have another friend whom he always hung out with too, Mingi, he asked him about those two boys but to no avail. Even Mingi, one of the popular kids in school, didn’t know much about them. He wasn’t in any classes with him, but he did give nicknames to those two, Pirate to the short one, and Jongho, to the tall one. Yunho was suspicious about why he named the other one using a real name, but he only said that it was a pure guess.

It was strange, Seonghwa never noticed two boys being close with each other. He had gone to the same school with Yunho but he never saw anyone act strangely close. Given yes, that Seonghwa was only a few years older and that he doesn’t know who those two were, but Yunho had said he thought the ‘Pirate’ dude was in the same year as him. 

“This is weird, don’t you think, Yunho?” Seonghwa stood up from the couch, going into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. “Why would you suspect that those two have to do anything with ‘The Caller’?”

“Seonghwa, when you graduated, I never saw those two again. Once I became a senior, I never saw Pirate and Jongho again,” Yunho laid back down on the couch, sighing deeply once more. Hence, Seonghwa stopped in thought. _This is eerie. If Pirate and Jongho became demons and haunted people, why would they do that?_

“But think about it, how did they become demons? And why are they haunting and killing innocent people? Couldn’t we be next”

“You are starting to sound like me, you sound very interested in this,” 

He was, and it was true. He was in deep thought about this, because it was strange. No one would just go missing like that and without anyone knowing who they are. There had to be someone who knew who Pirate and Jongho were.

“Fuck, this is getting in my head. Maybe we should do something else, I need to take my mind off it,” Seonghwa took a sip of his coffee, and came back over to the living room. Yunho could see the slight distress on his face, giving away that he was uneasy.

“Alright then, you want to watch a movie maybe? Make some brownie cookies?” 

“Let’s watch a movie first, then we can make some brownie cookies.” 

Seonghwa looked down at his hot cup of coffee, the steam coming out of the cup warmed his face, and the warm cup was warming his cold hands. Yunho stood up to grab the large amount of CD’s that Seonghwa had stored. He chose one movie and placed it into the CD slot, then plopping down on the couch again, smiling like an idiot. He never knew how he was so fine with this? Did he not realize how he explained to him that someone had their eyes ripped out and their neck was slit? It didn’t matter, because he knew that Yunho was maybe almost immune to this. He just wanted to get that horrible image out of his head. He watched the screen as the younger boy picked out Frozen 2. Casual Yunho. Seonghwa giggled and felt his body relax once again. But not for long. 


	2. what have they started?

_ November 17th _ .

4:23 pm

Another death. Yunho had heard on the news of another person appearing in the same forest, this time his arms were cut off and the top of his head was cleanly chopped off. And the eyes were gouged out, just like the other person. Seonghwa felt unsettled by this news like he felt sick. It had only been a few days since he was told the story, and what unsettled Hwa, was the fact that the demon could be Pirate. There was also talk about the dream, no one has died but they did feel paranoia and having the feeling like they were being watched. 

“I have an idea, how about we-”

“If you want to investigate this, you might as well have a death wish, Yunho,” Seonghwa chuckled, cleaning the countertop. 

“Seonghwa! Please! If we don’t do something about this, then we could be next!” Yunho tugged at his sleeve, making him stop his cleaning spree. He sighed and noticed Yunho’s expression, sulky as always. He felt bad seeing his poor face again. 

“We can solve this, I am sure about it,” He pouted more, making Seonghwa feel even worse for the poor boy. His mind told him to not say yes but his heart was telling him to go do it.  _ This maybe could be interesting... _ **_do not do it, you're asking for a death wish..._ ** _ but Yunho… _

He sighed.

“Okay, I’ll do it,”

Yunho’s face lit up brightly, making Seonghwa slightly regret his decisions. He wanted to make Yunho happy of course, but then again he was scared of what could happen. But where would they start? They didn’t know where to start...or did they?

A few hours later, Seonghwa came back to his house after his daily walk to find Yunho at his computer. He looked like he was searching up as much as he could to find out about those two. He walked over to him, putting his arm on the top of the chair, observing Yunho’s findings. From what he put into a document, he only figured out about Jongho. Funny enough, Mingi was correct, his real name was Jongho. But nothing else showed up, only that he was reported missing. And for Pirate… there was nothing. It was like he never existed. Yunho checked his school and who went to the school, apparently Pirate and Jongho were not present in the yearbooks. None of them. It was slightly disturbing, it was like those two never existed...

“Do you think we should get Mingi to come with us? He might help with some information,” 

Yunho pushed himself back onto his seat and crossed his arms. Seonghwa stared at the document, not even halfway full with writing and photos. How could this be? If Yunho and Mingi had seen those two, why hasn’t he seen them?

“You know, we could get some help with this. Call him up,” Seonghwa left to grab his phone. He heard Yunho call up his buddy, and while he was doing that, he checked his phone. An unsettling message from an unknown phone number had texted him. 

‘ _ I know you are searching for me. I’m the one that you have been referring to as Pirate. ’ _

Another chill ran down his spine. The number was strangely redacted in a way that he couldn’t figure out the numbers. He brought his phone to Yunho quickly, slightly horrified. Why was he feeling like this?? He had not cared about the supernatural only a month ago, and now he was scared of a redacted phone number that could be a scam?

“Y-Yunho,” He spoke, as he finished his call with Mingi.

“Mingi is coming over soon, what’s up?”

“Look,”

Seonghwa handed his phone over to Yunho’s hands, his expression turning slightly worried. He must have thought the same thing as him, how did he know? No one had spoken about the name Pirate or Jongho to anyone else but Seonghwa, Yunho, and Mingi. So that means that Pirate knows about their existence, and knows that they are experimenting about this. But the text said that if they won’t do any funny or stupid shit, they won’t hurt them…. But what is the limit?

_________________________________________

_ November 19th _

11:07pm

Ever since Mingi had joined with us on this, the investigation was more interesting and it was opening up more. They found more information on Pirate, and only figured out that he was also found missing. Nothing else about Jongho was found, just like Pirate, he was missing. But what they also found, is that many people don’t even know who those people are. It was like a glitch, even Yunho was shocked to know that people from the school didn’t know who they were.

“Well, Yunho. They were never in the yearbooks, so this is already suspicious,” Mingi pointed into the book, skimming through the pages to come up with nothing. Seonghwa was also stumped, how come only Yunho and Mingi saw those two but not him? They had gone around town to maybe find their parents or anyone who knew those two, but nothing came up again. 

“We aren’t going to get anywhere with this…” 

Seonghwa laid his head on the table, seemingly exhausted from this investigation only a few days in. What was still questionable to him was why no one knew who Pirate and Jongho were. Had Yunho been hallucinating and he was just messing around with him? But Mingi also knew about them, he was the one that gave the names, somehow guessing one of them correctly. 

It was late into the night, around 11:30 pm when Yunho called everyone over again. Somehow and in some way, he had fallen into a deep rabbit hole on the internet, finding out who Jongho was. Still, nothing was found on Pirate though, maybe it was because his name was just a nickname. Yunho had to search for Jongho until he finally found something.

Choi Jongho, Born on October 12th, 2000. Apparently, his death was unknown but they also don’t know when he passed, some suspected it was close to the time when Seonghwa graduated. Last seen was… at the graduation. There was even a video, just a black screen as the thumbnail, Yunho felt nervous to click on it.

“Yunho, where the fuck did you find this?” Seonghwa pushed him away, re-reading everything that was displayed on the screen. He looked up at the search bar and it was normal, no dark web stuff. 

“I searched any other names that could match Jongho, Lee, Jung, Sang, eventually I found out his name was Choi Jongho. And thankfully I wasn’t hallucinating because he did go to our school. But he was never put into the yearbooks because of unknown reasons,” Yunho scrolled down the page more, pointing the mouse to the sentence that he was describing.

‘ _ For unknown reasons, Choi Jongho has told school administration to not put his photo in the yearbook, along with another student whose name is unknown _ ‘

“So that means the other student must have been Pirate?”

“Yes, Mingi. But I think this is all the information I can find for now. I might go and try to figure out who-”

Yunho stopped abruptly, he heard Seonghwa’s phone buzz. Thinking nothing of it, he checked and it was the same number. The same scary unknown number. It was another text, this time it was more strange than the first one he got.

‘  _ I see you are trying to find out who I am, you did a good job finding some information on my best friend. :)‘ _

Shivers went down his spine, he read out the message as Yunho and Mingi crowded around him. This was getting strangely scary, why did “Pirate” keep saying that to them? How could they trust a demon who takes people away and horrifyingly kills them? And Jongho, what is he going to do? What powers did Jongho hold in his hands? 

Seonghwa quickly turned off his phone, getting a small glimpse of the time, 11:50 pm. Some kind of paranoia set in, and the other two might have felt that paranoia too. Something isn’t right.

“How does Pirate know my number though?” Seonghwa sat on the couch in the living room, trying to process what happened.

“He’s a demon ghost, Seonghwa. He knows who you are,” Mingi patted his shoulder, trying to reassure him. Understandable, of course, a demon can stalk humans and know who they are and where they are. But he never texted the others, did he have a liking to Seonghwa?

“Mingi, but Pirate only texts him and no one else. Don’t you think he might have a liking to him?” Yunho smirked stupidly, making Seonghwa burn up with anger. Mingi tried to keep him contained and both of them giggled.

“Ugh, fuck you guys I’m going to bed. See you guys in the morning,” Seonghwa grabbed his phone and left the two boys stranded once again. 

Yunho planned on figuring out who Pirate was on his own, with Mingi’s help. They thought about the text that Seonghwa read, they didn’t want to ask Pirate for any hints, let alone having him enter their dreams. They both hoped that he slept well without any complications. They hoped nothing would happen to him. 


	3. the demons want to play

_ November 20th. _

2:21 am

He was paralyzed. This was the first time this kind of thing ever happened, he was as stiff as a mannequin. Seonghwa wanted to scream but nothing came out of his clamped shut mouth, then he was in a dream. 

He still felt paralyzed but he was in the same dream that those people have been talking about. He couldn’t move and the room's walls were unsettling to look at. His eyesight was blurry, which made the endless rooms even more unsettling. Seonghwa was horrified that he might die, he didn’t even text Pirate for him to enter his dreams. There was the clicking again, it was like keyboard clicking and the sound was right behind his back. He shut his eyes, praying that he would wake up from this shitty nightmare made by Pirate.

“I see, it’s you,” A low whisper echoed around the room.

“Who are you? And what the fuck do you want from me?!” Seonghwa yelled out of anger, his echoes were even more unsettling and loud.

“Oh my, you are quite the feisty one,” A figure with all black clothing stood far away, their back facing Seonghwa. He was tall and none of his features were visible but his pale hands. He guessed it was Jongho because that's how Yunho described him. One of his hands snapped and he held a chain, Seonghwa felt even more scared.

“Wait, wait, wait. What are you going to do with that, Jongho?” 

“Jongho? How come you know that is Jongho?” The whisper became louder, and the black-cloaked figure took one step closer, stepping backward. Was Pirate just joking with him or was he being serious? Pirate knew they were researching about him, this had to be some kind of sick prank.

  
“Pirate I know your stupid tricks, tell me what the hell you are doing here! And are you going to hurt me? If so you might as well do it now-”

The cloaked figure zoomed past him at lightning speed and the chain was wrapped around his neck, but not choking him. The chain was thick, with some rust on the front, and the air was very cold. It had to be the presence of Jongho right behind them, or maybe Pirate. 

Another figure appeared in front of him, this time he was wearing a navy uniform with a dark blue cape around his shoulders. And the same combat boots that Yunho had talked about. Seonghwa couldn’t see his face, as it was covered by a mask and his hat, and his head was facing down. He started to laugh, first quietly, and then it became louder and louder.

“Darling Seonghwa, let me get things straight,” He began, walking closer and closer without lifting his head. 

“When I speak from here on out, I have to finish my words first. If you interrupt me, my dear friend Jongho will tighten that chain around your neck. Understand?” He said, lifting his head quickly, letting seonghwa see one of his eyes before he put his head down again, stopping a few inches away. 

His eye was bright red, it was blood red. Like something, he had seen from an anime. Yunho had said something about his eyes being blue and red, meaning he was correct. But Seonghwa didn’t see the blue eye, thinking that he might have covered it with an eyepatch. Pirate continued his talking once more.

“Now, I know I said you had to text me so that I would appear in your dreams, but I was so intrigued to see your pretty face again.” Seonghwa wanted to laugh, but he kept it in so that he wouldn’t hurt him.

“Sorry to interrupt, Pirate. But didn’t you say that you would NOT hurt me? You said that in the two texts that you sent to me,”

“Jongho sent those, not me. I don’t usually make promises so don’t expect me to not hurt you,” 

His chuckle sent shivers down his spine once more.  _ Fucking hell, he might be harder to handle. _ Pirate lifted his hand, giving the warning to not put the chain around his neck. The cold air around his back was gone, and he felt like he could breathe easier.

“I’ll give you a very small hint. Oh, and before I do say it, You can only have me appear in your dreams once a week. This was a free one so you can call me in again this week. So pretend that I never summoned you here.”

Seonghwa gave Pirate a judgemental stare, which made him lift his head, showing only his red eye. 

“Now, listen carefully. November 7th, 1998. Remember that.” He said and walked away. 

Seonghwa had so many questions for him but before he could even speak, Pirate was gone. Jongho slowly walked in the direction where Pirate had disappeared to, waving his hand slowly as a goodbye before he faded away. It was silent again. He kept thinking about the date that Pirate gave him,  _ November 7th, 1998. November 7th, 1998...November...7th. _

Something jolted him awake. Seonghwa woke up in a cold sweat, visibly confused as Mingi was in the doorway. He felt like he didn’t know where he was like the room wasn’t familiar. He felt the cold air on his back and his neck felt cold and it hurt.

“Seonghwa, are you doing okay?” Mingi approached him slowly.

“November 7th, 1998. Get Yunho to search up people with those birthdays. Now.” Seonghwa whispered as he turned his head to Mingi, he knew that he had seen and talked to Pirate and Jongho. Mingi ran out of the room, calling for Yunho to get on the computer.

They have another hint, which means it was closer to figuring out who Pirate’s identity was.

________________________

_ November 21st _

12:39 am

They heard Yunho’s screams, as both Mingi and Seonghwa ran to the computer where he worked. They saw a distressed boy, sitting with his face in his knees, covering his ears with his hands. They both looked at the screen and saw what horrifying scene that Yunho had paused on. He got onto the dark web somehow, the video was just of a blue-haired boy in a bathtub, covered in a red pool of water, glass sticking out of his face and arms. Seonghwa suspected it was blood so he quickly closed the tab, as Mingi walked over to the sobbing Yunho, and holding him in his arms.

He felt so bad for him, maybe this was all a bit too much for him. He could hear Yunho’s muffled sobs along with some speaking but not even Mingi could understand what he was saying. Both of them had woken up to his screams, so both were very alert that something bad might have happened. That video was something scary, he wouldn’t blame Yunho for being traumatized.

Mingi held him for what seemed like hours into the night when finally Yunho let go of him and wiped his eyes from any leftover tears. Both of them waited until he finally was back to his senses, being able to speak again. 

“What happened? What was that video you were watching?” Seonghwa held his hand, waiting for his response. He took a deep breath.

“It was...apparently Pirate. He was found dead in the bathtub. I-I have no idea why they recorded it, but I was trying to find out more information about him,” He breathed slowly once more, squeezing Seonghwa’s hand lightly.

“I was searching for more information about him, so I put in the date that you told me to and a link to our school showed up. The name was redacted and his face was not recognizable because there was just a black line covering his face. But what was said was that he was born on November 7th, 1998, he’s 5’7, and he was last seen walking around the school track by some unknown person. The day was after the graduation day, June 23rd. And then I received a text from another unknown number, and it got even darker. Some bullies had followed him home, and his parents were not home. So when he was taking a bath, those bullies broke in and beat him until he coughed up blood. One of them was recording the whole thing and then one of the bullies had broken the two beer bottles that were on the kitchen floor and smashed them on his face and arms. And then they left,”

They noticed Yunho was almost getting physically sick, Mingi running to get the trash bag in case he needed to vomit. And he was correct, Seonghwa sat next to him, massaging his back. Maybe they shouldn’t have gotten themselves involved in this stupid thing, maybe they were in the wrong here. It could be dangerous, they still don't know what Pirate and Jongho could do. Mingi heard Seonghwa’s phone buzz 2 times, getting up to grab it for him. There were two more horrifying messages, now the number was named “Your Pirate demon”

‘ _ I’m very sorry for scaring your poor Yunho, I just wanted them to know what happened to me. I didn’t mean it. But all that he saw in the video was true, and all the information is true,’ _

_ ‘ Almost everything about me is redacted, I was almost invisible to everyone. I tried to be better, seeming to think that I wasn’t good enough. But I just was ignored, again, again and again. ‘ _

Another text was sent. It made Mingi’s stomach drop. 

_‘_ _ПОЖАЛУЙСТА, ПОМОГИТЕ МНЕ, Я НЕ ТО, ЧТО ВЫ ДУМАЕТЕ.ПОМОГИ МНЕ._ _‘_

_ (Please, help me. I am not what you think. Help me) _

“Seonghwa, you might have to be cautious with this now,” He handed the phone over to him, afraid of his reaction. He was correct, his face turned into a terrified look. 

“Why is that in...Russian?” Seonghwa felt his throat close up, fearing for what could happen. 

“I don’t know, does he-”

Some other numbers texted them, this time it was a normal number, and not anything redacted.

‘ _ Hello? Is this Seonghwa? My name is Yeosang and I heard you were looking into this horrible thing about The Caller. I want to help you,’  _


	4. a few more friends

_ November 23rd _

11:49 am

Kang Yeosang is how he introduced himself in the text. Something made Seonghwa want to true him because of how he said he can hack into computers and find missing things about people. But the way he got his number was understandable, since he was researching about Pirate and Jongho, Pirate must have messaged him too and given him the number. He didn’t go to the exact school that Seonghwa, Yunho, and Mingi went to, but it was a neighboring school about an hour away. 

He was also a skeptic, just like Yunho, always interested in the paranormal. He majored in computer science and engineering so he knows a lot about electronics. He learned how to code and hack into any kind of electronic from his father, but he only used that knowledge wisely. Never use it for any kind of mean thing like trying to get info from any innocent people. 

Seonghwa allowed Mingi to get some info on Yeosang so he doesn’t seem like some stupid scam and he face-timed with him once. He even concluded that Yeosang is 100% truthful, he even showed his little studio where he gets his information on people. He even sent information about the three of them, which convinced Seonghwa to let him into the investigation team.

_ ‘ Park Seonghwa. Born April 3rd, 1998. Age: 22 years old.  _ _ Has an older brother who moved out to live on Jeju island with his girlfriend. Is a very tidy and clean person and his friends are like his kids; the friends like to refer to him as “mom” ‘ _

_ ‘ Jeong Yunho. Born March 23rd, 1999. Age: 21 years old. Has a younger brother named Gunho, who he loves dearly. He loves playing with his friends and he is not a fan of reading. His best friend is Song Mingi, with who he has been friends with since 2nd grade. ‘ _

_ ‘ Song Mingi. Born August 9th, 1999. Age: 21 years old. Has an older brother who he was close to before he moved away from Incheon. He was best friends with Yunho since 2nd grade and Mingi loves to sleep and not do anything’ _

Everything that Yeosang had stated was true, even Yunho and Seonghwa themselves said everything he wrote was true.

“Should we meet him? I mean he can help us with this. Maybe he could understand what’s happening right now,” Seonghwa took his phone out of Mingi’s hands. He turned to see Yunho on the computer, typing once more.

“Yunho, weren’t you having a breakdown after you saw that video? Shouldn’t you maybe take a break from it? Maybe me or Seonghwa can take care of that,”

“Mingi, I’m okay, trust me. I was just shocked at why that video was even recorded, it was gruesome. I feel much better now,”

“Suit yourself, dear,” He ruffled Yunho’s hair, making Seonghwa wanna barf.  _ We get it Mingi you like Yunho _ . 

Seonghwa and Yeosang texted back and forth for a little bit, agreeing that he would come to his house in a few hours. He seriously put a lot of trust into a stranger that they only met 2 days ago. He still wondered how he had gotten into this stupid situation, he was pulled into this investigation by Yunho. But he also thought about that dream again, Pirate must have had a slight interest in him. He wanted to just summon him and ask him so many questions, but he didn’t know which one to start with. Why was he just killing off innocent people? Why was he haunting people? Who killed those people in the forest? And why did they just re-surface to apparently haunt and kill people now?

The thought of Yunho explaining that horrific sight made him feel sick again. Shaking his mind off that, he went back to texting Yeosang.

**_Hwa: ‘ So come over sometime around 6:30? Sounds good? ‘_ **

**_Sang: ‘ Sounds great dude, I’ll meet you boys there :) ! ‘_ **

**_Hwa: ‘ Be safe ! see you later ! ‘_ **

__________________________________

_ November 23rd _

6:24pm

Seonghwa felt antsy again, walking around the house frantically. Yunho and Mingi were once again focused on finding more research on Pirate. The thought of this boy, Yeosang, who he had just met, was trying to help them? Fuck, it must be Pirate just exposing his number to random people and telling them about their investigation thing. 

Yunho and Mingi seemed to be on the computer almost 24/7, one switched out after a few hours and the other would come in and do some work. It’s like an endless cycle. He even worried for those two, telling them that maybe they should take a break and just share the information they have now. But they insisted, so Seonghwa didn’t bother them too much while they worked.

He thought about that dream, where Pirate told him that date, it was his birthday. He would have turned 22 only a few weeks ago. He felt so pity, pity that he never noticed that boy who could have literally been in his classroom. Pirate sounded slightly flirty when he talked, it was strange, and why was Jongho commanded that he put a whole chain around his neck?  _ What kind of shit was this dude into? _ Plus, he had said that he was NOT going to hurt him, but says that if i interrupt him while he is speaking, then Jongho tightens the chain around his neck? 

“Seriously, what kind of bullshit is this…”

“Hwa, you okay?” Mingi turned around in the chair, and Yunho came back from the kitchen. Seonghwa realized he wasn’t whispering, and got embarrassed when he now had to explain what he just said. Or thought.

“The dream. Where I saw Pirate and Jongho. Pirate seemed very… flirty for some reason, and he commanded Jongho to wrap a chain around my neck. And he told me if I interrupted him while he talked, Jongho would tighten the chain around my neck,” 

Everyone went silent, Yunho struggled to hold in his laughter. Mingi just burst out laughing with Yunho letting his giggles out.

“Man oh man, he sounds quite kinky bro,” Yunho fell to the floor on his knees, tears coming out his eyes from laughing so hard. Seonghwa was so ready to smack them in the face, until he finally heard the doorbell.  _ Yeosang is here. _

He went up to the door and swung it open. There he saw Yeosang, but also another boy right behind him.

“Hey! Oh, I forgot to say, this is San,” The younger boy slowly walked up the stairs, trying to give Seonghwa a friendly smile.

“He’s Jongho’s older brother, he insisted that he would come with me. He really wants to know what happened with his brother,” Yeosang finished. Mingi and Yunho looked over his shoulder, to see who those two were, their faces were overcome with smiles.

“Come on in!” Mingi pulled Seonghwa aside as the other two stepped in, taking off their shoes. San looked around the house, his face turning into a small smile. Seonghwa must have thought he felt some comfort here, maybe finally knowing where his dead brother is. Or maybe he wants to know what happened. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


__________________________________

_ November 23rd _

8:32pm

Everyone sat around Yeosang, shocked at how much information that they have found about Pirate and Jongho. He was so much more advanced than Mingi or Yunho, basically hacking into files and pages to find more information.

“ _?????????????? _ _. Born November 7th, 1998. Death date: June 23rd. Time of death: 9:54pm _

_ LAST SEEN: The school track, after graduation day. A horrible tragedy, a few boys followed him home and brutally beat and killed him, saying awful things about him while he was getting beaten. He was found with glass shards in his face, arms and torso, as well as bruises near his neck, arms and face. He coughed up blood and was still in the pool of blood when the paramedics and police came. He was pronounced dead at 9:54pm, only half an hour after those boys killed him. They were all wearing gloves, and the investigation on him was never solved, meaning they still don’t know who the boys are _ .”

He felt sick again, just imagining what those boys did to Pirate. He felt even more awful for him, even though he never had noticed him. He scanned around, Mingi was holding San’s hand, as he took deep breaths to try and keep himself calm. Yunho kept his head low, most likely taking in the information about Pirate.

“But wouldn’t this be strange? Didn’t they say that no one payed attention to them?” Seonghwa paused Yeosang before he read more information that he dug up. He made the others also lift their heads to face Yeosang and Seonghwa.

“But you know, since those two are ghosts...or should I say demons? Either way, don’t you think since they became spirits that they knew how to add information on the internet? And they may have added some info in the school page, but they made it hidden so people like me could access it.”

Yeosang did have a point, before that, there was almost no information about them. Everyone else in the school page has had bios and other things, but Pirate and Jongho didn’t have anything. Pirate had his name even redacted and his face was also redacted. Jongho had the same, but doing some easy coding and that stuff, they figured out how to show his name and face. Pirate’s was harder though, his face only redacted from his eyes up, only showing his slightly creepy smile. His name was also redacted, only showing a ‘I * 1 ’ at the beginning and a ‘NG’ at the end. [  * 1  \-  _ It’s not really an I _ … ]

They wouldn’t get anywhere with Pirates name yet, so they just continued on with Jongho.

“ _ Choi Jongho. Born October 12th, 2000. Death date: June 22nd. Time of death: UNKNOWN. _

_ LAST SEEN: The graduation. Only a few hours after the graduation, he had told Pirate that he would be taking a walk. But he never came back, like he disappeared in thin air. He was most likely killed by some paranormal thing. For unknown reasons, Choi Jongho has told school administration to not put his photo in the year book, along with another student whose name is unknown _ . _ ” _

“That must be Pirate. The other student must be Pirate,” San got up, pointing to the other text in the document about Pirate. Yeosang clicked on the school page, where Pirate’s info was.

It became corrupted, the page was glitching out. The black bar on his photo was fading out, but his eyes were still not visible, a black hat covered his head. The name on the page was scrambled. Everyone crowded around once more, Seonghwa felt his heart drop to his stomach. Yeosang lifted his hands from the keyboard, letting everyone know that he was not doing anything. And then everything stopped. 

The name was scrambled, with black as the background and some words highlighted in red.

‘ J NHOG IOM ’ 

“What the fuck?” Mingi swore under his breath. What was that?

“Maybe that's some word scramble? Is that his name?” Seonghwa finished his sentence when his phone buzzed again. And lord and behold it’s Pirate. It was another long text, followed by another. But the name had changed again, ‘NAME PIRATE’ it said.

‘ _ You found my corrupted page, nice job, Yeosang. That is my name, you have to unscramble it. But not all of the words are there, so once you figure out the wording… you now have to guess the rest. But I can wait, I’m sure it will be a challenge for you boys. Jongho and I are having a fun time watching you figure out our story :)’ _

_ ‘By the way, tell San that Jongho says hello. I’ll be waiting for you tonight ;)” _

Seonghwa chuckled, but he felt cold again. Pirate was definitely flirting with him, how hilarious. While he read the text from Pirate, he saw how San’s face went from confused, to horrified, to slightly happy. Maybe this was one way that Jongho could communicate with his deceased brother, he couldn’t blame the poor boy. 

Yeosang sighed, pushing himself away from the computer and turning it off. He seemed exhausted already, maybe he had a long day today.

“Would you like to stay here? We have an extra bedroom for you two,” Yunho held his hand, pointing to the corridor with the extra room. San looked up at Yunho while he walked to the door with Yeosang,

“We would love to, but we would have to get our stuff here first. We would rather stay at our homes just in case,” 

Yunho let go of his hand, watching them say goodbye and leave their house. It was quiet once again, just them, Seonghwa, and the buzzing from his phone again…

‘ _ Turn on that computer, save that file or else you will lose your progress… - Jongho’ _


	5. stubborn seonghwa and a trip

_November 30th_

_2:59am_

Seonghwa was back in that endless room, he felt pissed once again. Seonghwa didn’t need his help, he didn’t want anything to happen to him. He vividly remembered that stupid text, of Pirate saying that he had to text him ‘Pirate:MIND’ so he could enter his dreams. He scoffed loudly, wanting the void to hear his anger.

“Fucking hell, Pirate. You just want to see me suffer right? Then say it! You told me to text you-” A cold chain wrapped around his neck, tightening only slightly. Jongho’s cold presence was behind him again.

“My goodness, you aren’t patient are you?” He heard a crackle of thunder before Pirate appeared. He was still wearing his mask and uniform, but his hair was showing, a bright sky blue. He felt his back feel cold as he hears Jongho take off his hat and throw it on the floor. Seonghwa felt something warm in front of him, noticing that Pirate was walking closer and closer. His back was cold, his front was warm. 

Pirate stared straight at him, his burning red eyes telling him that he is making his front feel warm. He raises his hand, to tell Jongho to take the chain off. His footsteps came around him, as he stood right next to Pirate. He was really significantly taller than him, making it almost seem that he was his body guard. 

Jongho’s cold blue eyes stared right back at him, along with Pirate’s red eyes. Some force made him feel awfully horrified, they were really demons, and vengeful demons.

“Find my name. Answer the question. Then find me again. I won’t be visiting for a while.” 

He paused for long moments as he spoke, slowly removing his mask. Seonghwa caught a small glimpse of Pirate’s face. It had scars, most likely from those glass shards. He woke up, gasping loudly and in a cold sweat.

His room was still dark, it seemed as though he didn’t sleep far enough through the night. It was exactly 3am now. He got chills down his spine, those eyes almost engraved into his mind.

“What the fuck was that?” He swore under his breath. Footsteps down the hallway made him jump, as Mingi entered his room.

“Are you okay? You sounded scared,”

“No it’s okay, just Pirate and Jongho. You go back to bed, I’ll explain later,”

Mingi hesitantly looked around the room, making sure he was safe, and then closing the door again. Seonghwa sighed, he most likely won’t stop thinking about those eyes for a while. 

_But why did Pirate look so familiar?_

________________________  
9:03am

Yeosang and San came over to the house again, earlier than Seonghwa had expected. San looked shakened up, Seonghwa felt awful for that boy. He had to worry about his dead brother who was apparently a demon spirit. A demon spirit that killed innocent people...maybe innocent is an understatement. Yeosang came with some more equipment for the computer, decoders and other strange gadgets that he didn't know about. Seonghwa hoped he could trust him with getting this information, maybe the dream can help him with the evidence.

“Good to see you again,” Yeosang greeted everyone, gathering around the computer like they were some peasants of a king. Mingi peered over to his bag, very tightly zipped up. 

“Oh right, these are my gadgets. I hope you don't mind if I add them to this computer,” He noticed Mingi. 

“Go right ahead. If it's going to help us, then you have full permission,” Yunho responded for him. 

Everyone sat around the computer, gazing at the unusual gadgets and machines that yeosang had brought, while San only sat next to Yunho, fidgeting with his fingers. Seonghwa felt uneasy, something felt different around this room. He felt dizzy, like he had just spun in circles a few hundred times. The room seemed normal as he scanned around but one wall was just slightly darker than the other. He stood up, walking towards the wall, forgetting that the others were in the room. He put his hand on the wall and he seemed to just pass through, like he was in a video game and he glitches out the map. 

On the other side was many rooms, connected to each other, just like the people said. The back rooms, an endless hallway of rooms with fluorescent lights buzzing continuously. They say there are 3 levels to these, but no one has escaped level 0 yet, which is the level that Seonghwa was at. It was definitely eerie, it was dead silent for a few moments as he stood there, and then the fluorescent lights started buzzing again. A whisper could be heard, getting louder and louder.

“Seonghwa….Seonghwa….Seonghwa”

The whisper became louder and louder as if it was right near him. Then everything went white and he was back into the real world. He was standing right at the wall that he had walked into. Seonghwa was confused on what the hell happened, when San’s voice broke his thoughts.

“Seonghwa! Hello?! Are you okay?!” He shook him, jolting him backwards. 

“You stood and stared at the wall for no reason, what were you doing?” Yunho stared at Seonghwa and then at the wall. The wall wasn't a darker shade anymore, it was back to the normal color. He must have just imagined it, he couldn't have just teleported to The Backrooms like that...he couldn't..right?

Something within him felt like it had disappeared, he felt like loosing his mind. Dissociation and derealization sank in, what did he look like again? Blank.. _just think of something!_ What did Pirate and Jongho look like? He couldn't stop staring at the floor, his hands and legs starting to shake uncontrollably, He could still hear the others mumbling something. _But why can't I speak?_

“Seonghwa? Are you alright?”

“Stop the investigation for now, he looks like he's about to collapse from the stress” Yunho pulled him over to the couch and sat him down, noticing the heavy tears coming from his emotionless eyes. And then it was black. Seonghwa couldn’t see anything and his head was throbbing with pain, slowly getting more intense. He could still hear the other members yelling and crying, Yeosang calling the paramedics while Mingi was sobbing into someones arms. He wanted to yell out that he was okay, but he just couldn’t. There was ringing in his ears, getting louder and louder. It was unbearable, but he couldn’t do anything about it. 

_________________________________

_12:34pm, several days later..._

_Will you be my … friend?_

A whisper jolted Seonghwa up from his coma, in a cold sweat. Everything was blurry for a moment, he could only see a tall white figure and in another corner, stood someone with blue hair. Blue hair. Pirate was with him. 

“Go away!” Seonghwa screamed at Pirate, but when he took a second look at him, there was no one but the white cloak. A doctor stood where Pirate was.

“Sir? Are you okay?” 

To be honest, Seonghwa didn’t really know. He had woken up in a hospital, and none of his crew were there with him. Was everything that happened before real? Or was that just a dream? Maybe Pirate and Jongho aren’t real, maybe he’s just hallucinating. But if it was a dream, where are the rest? His chest felt heavy again, tears freely flowing down from his face. He zoned out, feeling like passing out again, hearing the murmured doctors voices. But from the blurred faces, he could see Pirate, sulking at the edge of his bed. His bright blue hair made his eyes hurt. He wanted to grab him so he could explain all the shit that is happening, but he disappeared before he could grab him. Seonghwa fell back asleep, tears falling down his face.

____________

Seonghwa has been asleep for 2 more days, Yunho started to worry more. Surely he had made him too stressed out with this whole Pirate and Jongho thing, he probably was hallucinating. Yunho himself had started hallucinating too, seeing part of the wall be a darker color than the others, seeing the bodies of Jongho and Pirate. He even had started having the same dreams as Seonghwa, of him in the backrooms , tied to a chair with Jongho behind him and the burning aura of Pirate. Dead silence, accompanied only by the buzzing of the fluorescent lights. It was cold, maybe because Jongho’s aura was cold and dark, but somehow Pirate’s hot aura never reached him. He just sat there, cold, with a chain on his neck. Why were they doing this? What is this stupid game? Why is Pirate threatening everyone in the group, and why is it almost always Seonghwa.

Yunho wanted to scream at them, wanting to let them know that Seonghwa was in a very deep sleep. He wanted him to feel guilt so he won’t bother the group as much. He wanted to let Pirate know what he has done to his health. His best friend was almost in a coma like state, and Pirate hasn’t appeared for those past few days that Seonghwa was in the hospital. The doctors are trying their best to keep him alive, they told him that he also began to have a fever. He was weak, pale and fragile. His face looked sickening, it’s like he’s seen a ghost….literally. The doctors have been suggesting that he had schizophrenia, since Seonghwa has been begging them to look where he was looking. Because he kept seeing Pirate, but the doctors couldn’t.

The others were worried too, Mingi has been staying at home, visiting the hospital a few times a week. Yeosang hasn’t been able to get very far with the coding and figuring out information. San had suggested finding his family, like their address and phone number. But it was like it was erased, it’s too corrupted to see any of that info. Mingi had also been visiting Yunho for some advice on what to do. Yunho reassured him to leave most of the things to Yeosang, since he's the smartest at technology. 

Days passed, and Seonghwa was still in the hospital. He’s doing better, but the doctors are still convinced that he might be a schizophrenic. At least once a day, he panics over seeing a black figure at the edge of his bed, with bright blue hair falling out of his fedora. And multiple times a day he tells the doctors, with tear filled eyes, that he keeps hearing his voice saying “Mine, Mine, Mine,” or “Precious” Yunho was trying to tell the doctors to believe him, but they flat out refused, which made him feel awful. It was his idea to look into this stupid demon thing. But why doesn’t Seonghwa see Jongho? What happened to him?

____________________________________________________________________________

4:57am, 3 days later

_Fucking hell._ Seonghwa swore under his breath as he woke up in the backrooms again. This time he wasn’t chained up to a chair or in some creepy ass corridor. It was like the back of your local big supermarket, endless openings that lead nowhere, you just keep going in circles. The fluorescent lights still flicker every few minutes. The walls were a weird green and yellow color, almost nostalgic in some way. He was frustrated, Pirate was the one that ended him up in this place.

“Pirate! You fucking bitch get yout butt over here! I’m sick of your games! The doctor might diagnose me with schizophrenia! This is all your fault! If this is really funny to you, then you are sick!”

“Don’t yell, it echoes in here,” A soft voice came from behind Seonghwa, It was Jongho. He was wearing his black clothes and combat boots, but he didn’t have his fedora. He had bright red and black hair, and his eyes were a soft brown. He looked like a real human, and not some demon that Yunho always described to him. 

“Where is he? And why is he doing this to me,” 

“I won’t hurt you, I’ll explain some things. But you have to believe me, he never intended for you to end up like this.”

Then there was silence. Just the fluorescent lights buzzing and the slight sound of clicking….Pirate was in the room with them. It made Seonghwa even more frustrated, but he didn’t have the energy to yell. Jongho waited until it was a good time to start, then he began.

“I’m sure you have heard that Yunho was saying that Pirate and I went to the same school as you. And that’s true, Pirate was in your grade too. But since he was absent and hid most of the time, you never saw him. Mingi and Yunho noticed us the most, but the reason we always hid was because we were severely bullied. H- I mean Pirate was very smart, so he passed every single class without needing to study or anything. Pirate also had a secret, he wanted to be friends with you, but he was afraid you would hate him, and since he didn’t know how to handle emotions, he fought with people. I have tried to stop him many times, by getting myself in with those fights, but that just brought me into the same situation with Pirate. I think you’re definitely confused, I know, I was too,”

He paused. Seonghwa was slowly realizing that maybe he was too harsh with Pirate. But what caught him off guard was how he said H before Pirate. He was almost going to say his real name. It does start with an H!

“The bullying got even more severe, the bullies purposely cut us with sharp bottles and bashed our heads into the walls. Pirate had enough, so he decided to drop out once his high school days ended. No one at the school even helped us, like they thought we weren’t there. A few hours after graduation, I was walking home, and I was killed. Murdered by the bullies. They knew well on how to hide my body and hide the evidence. Everyone thought I disappeared. I bet Hongjoong was worried about me, but then I realized he was dead too. I was visiting his house the day after graduation because I wanted to stay there, so he can remember me. Found him dead in the fucking bath tub!”

Jongho punched the side of the wall so hard it felt like the whole room vibrated. His face was as red as his hair, Seonghwa could tell he was very very mad at whoever killed his best friend. He even felt sad for Jongho, he misunderstood him. But he also wanted Pirate’s story, so he can finally say that Pirate isn’t that bad of a person. 

Jongho looked back at Seonghwa, pain filled his eyes and almost crying.

“Please, you have to believe me. I can talk with Pirate and tell him to stop playing around with you-”

“Please do. But for fucks sake can you tell him that I am very cross with his stupid ass! Where in his right mind did he think that making me go insane and having doctors think I was a schizophrenic….was a joke?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still updating this! I'm just really slow because of school and my stress levels hahah, (even though i started this in july 


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